Government MLA, MP, County

MLA Leela Sharon Aheer

Leela Sharon Aheer was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Chestermere-Rocky View on May 5, 2015. She currently serves as a member of the Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship. Mrs. Aheer has been a proud small-business owner since 1998. She has successfully operated a number of small businesses, each employing several people, including the Aheer Studio of Performance and Chestermere's WestCreek Auto Wash.

Mrs. Aheer studied political science at the University of Calgary for several years before obtaining a bachelor's degree in music from the University of Manitoba. She is a professional musician and is classically trained in all styles. She plays the flute and teaches voice, piano and guitar. Mrs. Aheer has won various awards at the Calgary Kiwanis music festival and has nine songs published to her credit. With her group Minerva she collaborated on a CD entitled Follow Me, which received a national release in Canada. She is fluent French and also sings and instructs voice in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Punjabi, Hindi and Telugu. She and her students have won awards and scholarships for voice and musical theatre.

Mrs. Aheer is an active volunteer, especially in areas of music and the arts. She is known to lend her time and energy to more than 50 events per year and has received numerous accolades for her efforts, including the volunteer of the year award from the town of Chestermere in 2013. Mrs. Aheer is a dedicated advocate for individuals with special needs and regularly spends her time volunteering at hospitals and other care facilities.

Mrs. Aheer along with her family – husband, Malkeet, and two children, Akesh and Sehran – reside in Chestermere.

Legislature Offices

Legislature Office

5th Floor

9820 - 107 Street

Edmonton, AB

Canada T5K 1E7

Phone: 780.422.0315

Fax: 780.638.3506

Constituency Offices

Constituency Office

215-175 Chestermere Station Way

Chestermere, AB

Canada T1X 0G1

Phone: 403.207.9889

Toll-Free: 1.866.843.4314

Fax: 403.216.2225

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hello Springbank Readers! You are probably familiar with Russell The Bear. He is a young black bear in the Springbank area that suffered an injury to his leg. Many people have contacted us about Russell. The Cochrane Ecological Institute (“CEI”), a very well-respected organization that has been rehabilitating wildlife for about 50 years offered to rehabilitate Russell but was turned down by Alberta Environment as their policy is to leave injured large wildlife such as bears alone for fears they may become habituated to humans and ultimately become a danger to the public. We have spoken to people on both sides of this issue, it is not a simple one, and I am by no means an expert. Organizations such as CEI are issued permits to rehabilitate injured wild animals. These permits have “Schedule A” attached to them. Basically, Schedule A forbids the rehabilitation of many large animals. Russell has not been seen for a while and we are all hoping that he is now hibernating and will make a full recovery. He has however served as a proxy for a robust discussion about the whole issue of wildlife rehabilitation in Alberta. Currently, Alberta Environment policy as set out in Schedule A is to euthanize orphaned young bears, cougars, elk, and other large wildlife. I have been looking into this and there is a good deal of published research that indicates that rehabilitation conducted by experts such as CEI can care for these orphaned young and successfully return them to their natural habitat without any danger to the public. This is an obvious win-win situation. We recently attended a panel in Redwood Meadows at the invitation of Lisa Dahlseide, a biologist who is passionate about preserving our wild animals. There was research presented from places like Idaho that documents successful rehabilitation and reintroduction. I must state for the record that it is imperative that people do not try to capture large wild animals. We heard reports that some well-intentioned animal lovers tried to put a collar and a leash on Russell to capture him. This is very dangerous and these interventions must be conducted by experts. There are several species where euthanization of orphaned young is the rule, including bears, wolves, coyotes, cougars and mule deer. Privately funded organizations like CEI are willing to take on rehabilitation but cannot do so at present as they would lose their permits and thus the many other species they care for would suffer. Is this right? I don’t think so.

As you read this we will have met with Lisa Dahlseide and will be looking to advocate for policy changes that protect and preserve our magnificent wildlife AND the public. Let’s make Alberta’s policy the “gold standard”! Please share your thoughts with my office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We love to hear from you.

John Barlow, MP

Constituency Office

109 4th Avenue South West (Main Office)

PO Box 5448

High River, AB T1V 1M5

Telephone: 403-603-3665

Fax: 403-603-3669

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.